incomplete studies

got a cheap new scanner last weekend. it makes everything look pointilistic haha.

Photo studies May 1213

Today is MY day loool, no wonder Blogger freaked out.

smells like coffee ice cream

Head study before I go to bed:

I hate to stay up this late, but I couldn't resist. I need to get back to muscle study after this.
No more chopped off skull, but it looks like I've forgotten how to draw hair.

To Mackenzie who seems to be my only reader (thank you):
Actually anybody can draw real people (or anything that is real) because it's a learnable skill. The most common mistake that people make (which leads them to think it's impossible to draw a realistic portrait) is that they draw what they think they see instead of what they see. I'm still trying to overcome this false thinking stage.

serious like a joke

In the end I managed to find some educational stuff on Tumblr. So much to learn...... Challenging but fun.
Haven't drawn muscles since 10th grade Anatomy so this brings back memories. Wish I had paid more attention in that class. All I remember is that we watched some funky bloody videos about Chuck E Cheese some guy chopping off his own (frostbitten) fingers and the like lol. And that it was cut short because of lunch. Why yes we always did weird 'stuff' before having lunch I miss those days.

Now I need to think about how many muscle studies I should mess up a day.

Painting Galadriel & Frodo, day 1+2

I just started this movie still study last night. Everything's done on 1 layer in SAI so far.
The purpose of this study is to capture the dramatic atmosphere and lighting of the scene. I'm not using the exact color scheme of the reference picture.

1. Laying down basic colors & shapes

2.Adding more details to Galadriel's face

3. Resizing canvas, refining some details

4. Moving on to Frowndo Frodo's face (scariest part!)

The first two stages are from last night. It took me nearly 2 hours this morning (without breakfast!) to get to the third stage. I recorded today's process but Blogger's video window is too small for the whole thing to be seen.
I have always been struggling in the refining stage where I have to turn big blobs of color into details since the day I started painting in this method. Has it gotten any easier for me? No, but that's the good part. When something becomes too easy for us to obtain, it tends to take away our will to face new challenges.